Carbureter.



A. P. FELLER.

GARBURETBE. APPLIQA'TIO'N FILED AUG. 16, 1913.

1,1 1 3,892, Patented 001;. 13, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES:

' I X YENTOR Wag; iifjllen A. P. PBLLBR.

OARBURETER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.16, 1913.

Patented Oct. 13

snnm2 2.

2 SHEETS i TZ ml n I w a WITNESSES BY wa 2 A'l'roksinr ADOLPH F. FELLER, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

' CARBUBETER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 16, 1913. Serial No. 785,077.

Patented Oct. 13, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known-that I, ADOLPH F. FELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Carbureters, of which the followin is a specification.

This invention re ates to a carbureter especially constructed for producing gaseous fuel from volatile li uids, which fuel is adapted for heating, coo ing and lighting purposes.

The urpose of the invention is to provide a sim'p e, cheaply manufactured, easily-adj usted and operated carbureter which is com pact in construction and absolutely, automatic in. operation.

The main object of the invention is to provide means for evenl distributing and breaking up the air into t e smallest globules possible while this is passing through the volatile liquid, thus producing a highly combustible uniform as.

Another ob ect is to rovide means for heating the air so as to irther increase the gas producing capacity of the apparatus without increasing its size.

Further objects will appear hereinafter.

' The invention further consists in the parts and the construction and combination of parts as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a central vertical section through the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view of same, partly broken awa Referring to'the drawmgs: A indicates a tank provided with a sloping bottom 2 and a head 3. Suitably secured in the center of the head is a casing 4, and secured within the casing, as at 5, in a concentric position with relation to the inner walls of the casing is a pipe 6 which extends down to the bottom of the tank where it is secured in an inverted and is further provided with an outwardly projecting tubular extension 12, on the upper side of which is formed a needle valve seat 13 communicating with an air inlet connection 14. The lower side of the extension is provided with a stufiing box 15 through which projects a needle valve stem 16, which is so positioned as to register with the valve seat 13. The lower end of the stem is provided with a collar17 which normally rests on a spring-lever 18, provided for the purpose of adjusting the position of the needle valve with relation to the valve seat. One end of the lever is pivoted to the casing, as indicated at 19,'while the other end is supported by an adjusting screw 20 by which the lever may be raised and lowered to correspondingly open or close the valve needle with relation to its seat. The needle valve stem 16 is further actuated by a flexible diaphragm 21, suitably supported on a gasket 22 and a flange 23, being securely held in this position by a circular nut or clamping ring 24.

Pivotally mounted between lugs 25, formed on the inner edge of the clamping ring 24', is a suitable number of radially disposed levers or arms 26, provided with upwardly proj ecting curved ends 27,-and supported by said upwardly projecting ends is a disk 28 which is so positioned as to contact with the lower end of the needle valve stem 16 when lifted sufliciently by the flexible diaphragm 21. The purpose and action of the arms 26 with connected diaphragm will later be described.-

The lower end of the casing 4 is provided with a downwardly extending threaded extension 29 which communicates with the interior of the tank A, and secured to said extension is an enlarged housing 30, in which is mounted an electric coil 31. The heating coil 31 is constructed in any suitable manner well known in the art, but is in this instance insulated'from the casing and provided with a plurality of vertically disposed passages 32. 'By the provision of an enlarged housing 30 a correspondingly large heater can be employed so as to provide a large area of heat radiation which effectively heats the air that enters the housing. The lower end of the housing 30 is provided with a threaded opening 33, into which is screwed a downwardly extending tube 34. Slidably mounted outside of the tube 34 is a second tube 35, to the lower end of which is secured a conical-shaped cap 36, suitably secured, as at 37, is a float 38, constructed in any suitable manner. The bottom of the cap 36 is convex in shape, as indicated at 39, and is provided near its outer edge with a series of perforations or openings 40, and is connected with the upper portion of the cap by a series of radially disposed outwardly extending arms or ribs 41, indicated in Fig. I to which is secured a wire fabric material 42. The bottom of the float 38 is perforated, as at 47, and extended a suitable'distance, as indicated at 43, beyond the main body of the float, and is provided with a downwardly extending annular flange 44, between whlch and the conical-shaped fabric-covered cap 36 a suitable number of vertically disposed deflecting or distributing plates 45 is secured, and interposed between the distributing plates 45, midway between the outer flange 44 and the conical cap 36 are sections of wire fabric46 which are preferabl set on an ng e, as indi ated F g l- T e oper-l ation of this part of the apparatus will be as follows: Air is admitted through the needle valve opening 13, which is connected, as at 14, with a suitable supply of air under pressure. Air entering through the valve 16 and extension 12 i the direction of the arrow a is permitted to pass down through the casing 4 into the housing 30, through which it escapes after passing through the passages 32 formed in the electric heater 31. The air then passes down through the tube 34 into the lower end of the conical shaped cup 36, from which it is permitted to escape by passing through the fabric material 42 which covers the lower end of the cone. This has a tendency to evenly distribute the air under the bottom of the float which is partly submerged in the volatile fuel, as indicated in Fig. 1, and also causes it to be broken up into fine globules which are further spread and evenly distributed by the downwardly extending distributing plates 45. The globules of air are thus forced in an outward di rection along the bottom of the float, as indicated by arrows Z), and will in their ontward passage be intercepted by the wire fabric sections 46 which will further tend to reduce 1the air globules and spread same under the oat.

The air in its 'passage'under the bottom of the float isegiven sufiicient time and is so completely broken up by the action of the several wire fabrics through which it passes that it becomes thoroughly saturated with vapor before it is finally freed from the bottom of the float by passing through the perforations 47 L The slidable connection formed between the housin 30 and the float 38 permits the float to rise and fall as the liquid level within the tank is raised or lowered, and is further guided and retained in position by the central filling pipe 6, a suitable guide flange 48 having been provided within the convex bottom of the cone cap for this purpose.

The provision of the electric heater 31 1s very desirable in colder climates, as it heats the air to such a degree that the volatlle liquid is much more quickly absorbed by same; furthermore the normal capacity of the apparatus may be materially increased by heating the air without increasing the size of the apparatus, for the reasons before stated.

Any water or condensation formed in the upper casing 4, or admitted through the valve 16, will quickly drain down to the bottom of the conical cap 36 where it is permitted to escape through the perforations 40, from where it will quickly settle to the bottom of the tank, as indicated at 38. Any such accumulation may be easily removed from the tank by closing the outlet valve, generally indicated at B, and holding the regulating spring-lever 18 down by forceuntil suflicient pressure has been created on top of the liquid within the tanlgfto force the water up through the tube 6"where it is permitted to escape from the top of the easing; the cap 11 having previously been removed for this purpose.

The pivoted arms 26, extending over the flexible diaphragm 21, are provided for the purpose of supporting and protecting the diaphragm against any excessive internal pressure, or such pressure as may be applied when it is desired to remove the water. The plurality of arms 26, extending over the surface of the diaphragm 21, will naturally prevent any excessive expansion of same whensubjected to abnormal pressures, and will thus protect it against rupture or'undue straining. The diaphragm 21 is otherwise provided for the purpose of maintaining a constant gas pressure, for instance about two ounces, within the tank. The moment this pressure 18 exceeded it can easily be seen that the diaphragm will rise in an upward direction, which movement will be immediately transmitted through the arms 26 and the disk 28 to raise the stem 16 and close it with relation to its seat 13, or it will correspondingly yield to admit air in greater or smaller 4 quantities as the flow of gas from the tank is increased or decreased.

The spring-lever 18 is only provided for the purpose of limiting the downward move? ment of the valve stem, thus providing against too large an inflow of air at one time. i

Another important feature of the invention is the'provision of the valve B which' is' provided for the purpose of distributingpossible chance of back-firing within the tank. Formed interior of the valve casing is a pair of valve seats 50 and 51, and mounted on a threaded valve stem 52 operable in the usual manner, in a position where it is adapted to engage with either valve seat, is the valve proper 53. Formed in the upper part of the valve casing in a position where they will communicate with the valve seat 50, and where they are adapted to be closed by the valve 53, is a suitable number of radially disposed passages 54, with which the service pipes 55 may be connected in any suitable manner. By referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that a chamber 56 of considerable capacity is formed between the valve seats 50 and 51. This is provided for the purpose of forminga secondary or temporary reservoir for the gas, to supply the service pipes when the valve is closed on the seat 51, in which position it is placed when the tank is being refilled with fuel, etc. It thus becomes possible to open the tank, which is necessary when replenishing the fuel supply or when discharging any water accumulation in the bottom of the tank, without stopping the flow of gas through the service pipes. Similarly it also becomes possible to cut off all communication with the tank and the several service pipes in case of fire, leakage, or similar accidents.

The apparatus constructed as here shown is simple, safe and compact in construction, and takes less space than other machines of a similar capacity. The provision of the diaphragm actuated air inlet valve maintains a constant gas pressure in the tank and service pipes, thus maintaining a constant light when the gas is being consumed without the slightest fluctuation. The air heater together with the distributing means provided on the lower surface of the float, produces a uniform highly combustible gas and produces the highest efiiciency possible.

The materials and finish of the several parts of the apparatus are such as experience and judgment of the manufacturer may dictate.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

- 1. A carbureter comprising in combination a tank adapted to contain volatile fuel, a casing mounted in the head of the tank communicating with the interior of the tank,'a tube secured to i-the casing "extending down into the tank, 'an enlarged diam-- ber formed in said tube, means in said chain ber for heating the air passingtherethrough, a secondary tube slidably mounted on the casing tube, a float secured on the seeondary tube, and air distributing means formed" on thebottom of the float. I

. QQ-Alcarbureter. comprising :-in=, co1nb1nation a tank adapted to contain volatilefuel,

a casing mounted inthe head of the tank communicating with the interior of the tank,

a tube secured to the casing extending down into the tank, a secondary tube slidably mounted on the casing tube, a wire fabric covered air distributing cap secured on the end of the secondary tube, a float secured on said tube, a plurality of vertically disposed distributing plates on the bottom of the float, a downwardly projecting'annular flange on the bottom of the float, the outer portion of said bottom having a plurality of perforations formed therearound.

3. A carbureter comprising in combination a tank adapted to contain volatile fuel,

a casing mounted in the head of the tank communicating with the interior of the tank,

a tube secured to the casing extending down into the tank, an enlarged chamber formed in said tube, heating means in said chamber,

a secondary tube slidably mounted on the casing tube, a float secured on the secondary tube, air distributing means formed on the bottom of the float, a pipe closed at its upper end extending down through the casing, casing tube and float, and secured in the bottom of the tank and having inlet openings in the lower end thereof communicating with the interior of the pipe, a float in said pipe, and a liquid level indicating rod secured to said float.

4. In a carbureter, a tank, an enlarged housing in the tank interior depending from the tank top, a heaterlocated within said housing and having a series of spaced vertically disposed passages, a tube extending'llo downwardly from the housing, and a float slidably connected to said tube and having its under face communicating therewith.

5. In a carbureter, a tank, a vertical guide in the tank interior, a tube surrounding said guide in spaced relation thereto, a float slidable on the tube and having a downwardly extending marginal flange, a cap slidably engaged with the guide, arms connecting the cap and the float; said arms being covered with mesh fabric, a series of spaced distributing plates secured beneath the float and extending from said arms to said flange, and fabric parts set at an angle and extending across the spaces between said distributing plates.

.6. In a carbureter, a tank, a guide, a float slidable on the guide, a cap connected to the under side of the fleet andhaving foramimy hand nous sides; means to conduct air to the cap, witnesses. I

and a. series of' spaced distributing plates extending along the under face of the float ADOLIIDH FELLER? 5 from the. sides of the cap' to the float Witnesses:

periphery. HIRAM K. LOVELL,

In testimony-whereof I'have hereunto set MAUDE Fosrnn.

copies of this patelit may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents,

Y Washington, D. C.

in the presence of two subscribing v 

